What can you expect from $50 million Raeford Road project?

In about six months, motorists in Fayetteville should expect to begin dealing with a major project — long-term road construction on a roughly 6.2-mile stretch of Raeford Road.

The work will be done in nine phases over three sections and is expected to last about 3 1/2 years. The estimated $50 million in state road construction alone is designed to improve the safety of the Raeford Road/U.S. 401 corridor by reducing vehicular crashes.

The proposed improvements are scheduled to be done on the stretch between old Raeford Road near the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center and past the Highland Centre and Robeson Street intersection, to Amigo Drive.

The improvements will include raised medians, sidewalk construction and other work.

Antwuan Jones, 56, broke into a grin when he considered the troublesome combination of heavy traffic with the extended roadwork on Raeford Road.

"It's going to be like Atlanta," he said.

"All the little side roads and cuts, I know them all," said Jones, a contractor who uses the road every day to get around to different jobs. "This is going to slow me down. Take me a little longer. My days are going to be longer."

Businesses that operate along the largely commercial highway also can expect some disruption as a result of the construction work.

"It sucks. It's going to kill our business," said Mary Goodman, the 56-year-old manager of the Wiener Works restaurant on the 3400 block of Raeford Road. She said similar road construction in north Fayetteville did a number on the Wiener Works location on Ramsey Street.

"Ramsey Street had the same issue," Goodman said. "They put the median in there, too, and it hurt business. Business there is just now coming back."

The state will be working closely with the city of Fayetteville, the Fayetteville Public Works Commission, Piedmont Natural Gas, Spectrum, Century Link and others for the project.

"This is going to be a significant project," said Andrew Barksdale, a spokesman for the state Transportation Department. "It is going to cause construction headaches. People are used to turning left. The No. 1 reason is safety. It's too dangerous to have that open lane. It will dramatically reduce crashes."

•••

The state DOT will likely award a bid for the work in July. Construction is expected to begin closer to September, in the fall.

Planned improvements include the installation of a raised median and what the state calls "additional access management improvements." These improvements provide what DOT calls "greater predictability" to the corridor by consolidating median openings and/or removing left turns at major intersections in favor of U-turns just up or down from the intersection.

"The key to a project like this is we know there are going to be short-term impacts. But long term, it's going to help the corridor," said Greg Burns, division engineer for the state DOT's Highway Division 6. "If we do nothing, we know there will be long-term effects. They (residents and business owners along the road) know in the short term there will be construction and inconvenience. But long term, it's going to be a safer and much better corridor."

"It's really more of a congestion mitigation project to improve mobility and safety," Burns said. "There will be a little bit of widening in locations along the project, but I would not describe it as a widening project. More of a congestion mitigation."

The three sections of the project probably will take six to nine months apiece.

Randy Wise, the Division 6 construction engineer, said the roadwork will begin on the south side, or right side, at the western end of Raeford Road.

The second section likely will extend from Bunce Road to the intersection of the All American Freeway, and again on the same side. The third section runs from the All American to Robeson Street, on the south side. After that, road crews will return to the western end and begin construction on the left, or north, side.

"And then come back and do the median in the same three phases," Wise said.

Sandy Hawley, one of the family owners of Hawley's Bicycle World on the 4700 block of Raeford Road, said she was baffled by the skipping around from one segment of the road to another.

"Why not run down normally rather than jump around," she said. "It would not be as disruptive."

Hawley said she was concerned about the impact on business. "We were told at least a minimum of three years, and that's why it's going to be a huge impact," she said. "I gave up on the north side of town. You can see all the businesses that have gone out of business because of the median" that the N.C. Department of Transportation installed on Ramsey Street.

"They (state DOT) are going to be taking a large portion of the parking lot, and the (prominent roadside) sign will be removed," Hawley said, as she faced the outside front of the store. The business is across Raeford Road, just up from William H. Owen Elementary School.

•••

Raeford Road ranks among the city's major traffic arteries.

The average number of vehicles that use the project's 6-miles-plus stretch of Raeford Road on a daily basis varies by location. According to the state, about 40,000 vehicles a day travel on the west end of the project, near old Raeford Road. At the All American bypass, some 60,000 vehicles travel on a daily basis. The number is about 50,000 vehicles a day near Robeson Street.

"All those areas are anticipated to increase by roughly 10,000 vehicles a day by 2035," Burns said. "We're still expecting a lot of increase in the volumes in the coming years. A lot of climbing."

Based on DOT studies, Burns said the number of accidents that occur over a half-decade on that 6-mile stretch of Raeford Road "probably exceeds a thousand."

Michael Ross, a 30-year-old owner of Mastaphalis Cuts and Styles on the 6000 block of Raeford Road, said at least four or five accidents tend to happen on a daily basis in the area.

"I'm aware of all the accidents that happen," Ross said. "They really need a stoplight to help control the traffic."

Unlike Hawley, Ross said, the road construction should have no effect on his hair business: "This type of business is customer-satisfaction based. They're going to find us if they're satisfied. If they have to ski, fly or parachute in, they're coming. They're not going to go anywhere else, if they're satisfied."

The Ramsey Street improvements, which Wise cited as a comparable DOT road project, have reduced accidents by about 40 percent.

"We could potentially see with this project a reduction in accidents — 35 to 40 percent would not be surprising," Burns said.

The existing traffic signals will remain, DOT spokesman Barksdale said. "Even though we'll put in medians, where the traffic signals are will remain full access."

MAP:

•••

Three years ago, the state asked for Fayetteville PWC's assistance with utility relocation planning on the improvements project. Approximately 8.5 miles of transmission and distribution lines will require relocation.

The DOT has acquired more than 200 public utility easements for electric, water, sewer and natural gas relocations.

Last month, the city entered into an agreement with the N.C. Department of Transportation on the road improvements.

Sidewalks will be incorporated onto both sides of Raeford Road for the length of the project, said Lee Jernigan, the city traffic engineer. Irrigation is included for the areas of the median that are planned for plantings.

The city requested that the state include sidewalks as part of the project. The state will replace existing sidewalks at no cost to the city, Jernigan said. Any missing sidewalks will be constructed as part of the project, with Fayetteville paying 50 percent and the state paying the other half.

"That's an opportunity to get the sidewalk at half the price," Jernigan said. "When it's finished, sidewalk will line both sides of the road from one end to the other."

The estimated cost for the city is $510,000 for any additional sidewalk, improved drainage and concrete bus pads. The city will pay to have the 40 bus stop pads installed. The city also plans to have benches and/or shelters at those sites, he said.

Jernigan said the city has requested that DOT add any landscaping in the medians near the end of the Raeford Road project.

Sandy Hawley, with Hawley's Bicycle World, is concerned about the length of the project and its impact on businesses.

Contact Us

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Fayetteville Observer ~ 458 Whitfield St., Fayetteville, NC 28302 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service